The present invention relates generally to large bale handling devices and, more particularly, to a bale discharge table which trailers behind the discharge chute of a baler to rotate the bale 90.degree. from its discharge chute while tilting the table sufficiently to roll the bale onto the ground either off or on its bale twines.
Historically since the beginning of baling of forage crops, the size of bales has gradually increased to what we have today which are either large cylindrical round bales or square bales which can weigh between 600 and 2000 pounds. Since the size and weight of these large bales do not permit them to be handled by manual labor, various mechanical means for handling the bales have been developed. While there are several types of bale handling devices available, most of them involve a multiple spearing type device mounted on either a tractor front end loader or a 3-point hitch which drives one or more spears into the side of the bale and then lifts the bale for either transport or loading. These bale loaders follow the baler as it moves through the field and since the bales are not ejected with the sides of the bale facing the loaders, it requires the bale loader, each time it engages a bale to swing off to the side, making a wide turn and engage the side of the bale before it can be lifted. This extra movement in the field is a waste of energy and time which has encouraged equipment manufacturers to develop a turning apparatus to turn the bales 90.degree. as they exit the outlet chute of the baler such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,135 to Seymour. The device in the above-mentioned patent is utilized with round rather than square bales and it achieves the turning by dragging one end of the bale 90.degree. after it is already on the ground. The apparatus of the present invention rotates the big square bale while it is still on a table before it is dumped onto the ground.
In the prior art, most balers of either round or square bales wrap their bales with twine in a vertical plane so as the bales exit the outlet chute the twine is on the top and bottom of the bale which is undesirable to some for various reasons. To keep the bales off their twine, the bales were supported on one side at the exit chute thus causing them to roll from the unsupported side 90.degree. as they hit the ground. This method is taught in the following prior art patents of Matthews U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,171; Shepley et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,008; Tufts U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,028; and Girard U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,152.